Riders continue to add American offensive tackles

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ hunt for a couple of new bookends to their offensive line continues.

On Monday, the team dealt a pair of negotiation list players to the Edmonton Eskimos for American offensive tackle Thaddeus Coleman.

Since Chris Jones took over the Green and White he’s been busy stockpiling American tackles in hopes of replacing the departed Xavier Fulton and Levy Adcock. Fulton enjoyed a bounce-back season in 2015 after a down year in 2014. Adcock, while effective when on the field, has had difficulty staying healthy during his career.

With the Riders believed to have been flirting with the cap last season, Jones has made a point this offseason of shedding salary where he could, most notably releasing receiver Weston Dressler and defensive end John Chick. Dropping dollars has also meant replacing Fulton and Adcock with some of the cheaper, younger, American linemen added over the winter. Including Coleman, the Riders now have six American offensive linemen on the roster with just two starting spots available. Brendon LaBatte, Dan Clark and Chris Best continue to hold down starting Canadian jobs at guard and centre respectively.

Coleman is entering his fourth CFL season starting 21 games and winning a Grey Cup last season.